Internet is finally working again. Here's something I wrote last week:
Last weekend my program took us all on a trip to southern Spain, to the city of Córdoba. We took a roughly five-hour bus ride through the mountains that separate Castilla La Mancha, in the center of which is Madrid, and Andalusía, derived from the Arabic name for the peninsula, Al Andalus, or The Land of Light. Córdoba was for a time the capital of the Al Andalus province of the Islamic Caliphate about a thousand years ago, and thus has a strong Arabic character to its architecture.
After arriving in the city we dropped off our things in the hotel and split up for lunch. I went with a group to a restaurant that specialized in bull’s tail, apparently a local delicacy. I ended up getting fish and a local soup instead, as I wasn’t feeling that brave at the time, a move I feel pretty comfortable with. My braver peers opted for bull’s tail, and they said it was good, but I think their assertions of this were a little forced!
We met back up for a tour of the Catedral of Córdoba. In the fifteenth century, when the Christian kingdoms of the north reconquered this city, the first order of business was to consecrate the enormous mosque as a Catholic cathedral. By the mid sixteenth century, the mosque had undergone some radical changes in architecture. Much of it preserves its original Islamic design, but in the center there has been built an enormous Gothic chapel with a cavernous cathedral ceiling and everything. It’s a really spectacular fusion of the architecture of the two Abrahamic traditions.
We left the Mosque/Cathedral to tour the Jewish Quarter and a synagogue, thus rounding out the big three monotheisms. The synagogue was a lot less imposing, but nevertheless still interesting. The Islamic rule of the peninsula was characterized at the time with a remarkable religious tolerance, and Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their own faith. Unfortunately the new Catholic kingdom did not continue that tradition of religious tolerance, and the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 and the Muslims in the early 16th century. It was very interesting to see what’s been preserved and restored of the Jewish heritage in that portion of the tour.
Next up we saw the ancient Roman wall that used to protect the city, and the Alcazar, the castle where the Catholic Kings stayed when visiting Córdoba. This castle is for the most part in disrepair. A couple exposed excavations revealed the Roman foundations of the castle, buried under what’s left.
From there we split up and chilled until supper, provided by our program. Chilling resumed after supper, and in the morning we hopped back on the bus and drove just outside the city, where we toured the enormous archaeological excavation of Madinat al-Zahra, the palace city that was the seat of the Caliphate government in Al Andalus. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day, and we got a bunch of pictures of the ruins.
Following the tour we went back into the city for lunch on our own, then back on the bus for Madrid.
My immune system seems to have a burning desire to face off against every germ on this continent, and a good deal of my time here has been spent cycling through various iterations of the cold. This week was my first decent bout of the flu, however. This was spectacularly unfortunate, because Monday was the day I had been looking forward to for months when Grandma and Grandpa Murto were visiting me in Madrid. Fortunately they have had their flu shots, so I met them at their hotel and we walked around some central areas of Madrid together, Gran Via and Plaza del Sol. We got a light lunch together and went back to their hotel. They were pretty tired from their flight, and I was spent from the whole flu business, so I left them in their room and went back to my apartment to take a nap (I didn’t have class on Monday). The original plan was to go out for supper Monday night, but my doctor here and my grandparents both insisted I stayed in and rested. With the exception of waking up to go to the doctor on Monday evening, I essentially slept until Tuesday, when Grandma and Grandpa visited my apartment. We went for lunch at a little restaurant about a block from my apartment. It was lovely, and afterward I walked them to their bus stop and directed them how to find their way back to their hotel. Our time together was much too short, but they only had a couple days in Madrid. Their tour group was continuing on to Toledo and Córdoba, and more of southern Spain and Morocco, and ultimately Portugal. I was really bummed to have to say bye to them again so soon, but I’m sure they’re having a pretty stellar adventure wherever they are right now in Spain.
I was feeling a lot better by Thanksgiving. Our program paid for our dinner at a medium-classy restaurant about three blocks from my apartment. I had steak and French fries. It was the most American thing you could get; no turkey, mashed potatoes, or pies were available. It was pretty good, but of course I miss my family. Thanksgiving is better spent in Indiana.
I feel like that essentially catches things up. Next week three of my classes have midterms, so I’m studying for those right now. Linguistics, Hispanic American Literature, and Spanish Foreign Policy. Should be a piece of cake.
I don’t know when you’ll be able to read this, because my Internet connection is nonfunctioning. Unfortunately you have to pay for it whether it works or not, so hopefully it will kick back in soon.
Bye.
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